Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Sams Teach Yourself Visual Basic 2008 in 24 Hours

Sams Teach Yourself Visual Basic 2008 in 24 Hours
Paperback: 576 pages
Publisher: Sams; 1 Pap/Dvdr edition (May 26, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0672329840
ISBN-13: 978-0672329845
Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.9 x 1.4 inches







In just 24 sessions of one hour or less, you will be up and running with Visual Basic 2008. Using a straightforward, step-by-step approach, each lesson builds upon a real-world foundation forged in both technology and business matters, allowing you to learn the essentials of Visual Basic 2008 from the ground up. Step-by-step instructions carefully walk you through the most common questions, issues, and tasks. The Q&A section, quizzes, and exercises help you build and test your knowledge.





By the Way notes present interesting pieces of information. Did You Know? tips offer advice or teach an easier way to do something. Watch Out! cautions advise you about potential problems and help you steer clear of disaster.



Learn how to…
Use the powerful design environment of Visual Studio 2008
Design feature-rich interfaces using components such as tree views and tabs
Create robust applications using modern error-handling
Draw fast graphics using GDI+
Build a database application using ADO.NET
Distribute a Visual Basic 2008 Application
Manipulate the Windows Registry
Create, read, and write text files
Use event-driven techniques to build responsive applications

DVD Includes: Microsoft Visual Basic 2008 Express Edition

On the Web: Register your book at informit.com/title/9780672329845 for access to author code, examples, updates and corrections as they become available.

User Review:
I would classify myself as a "hobby" programmer. I enjoy programming, but aside from a few courses taken years ago, I have little formal training. I frequently write programs for myself, my clients, and my friends (I'm a computer technician). Although I know a little about OOP (object-oriented programming), I find it to be overkill for many of the programs I like to write. Most of the time good, old-fashioned procedural programming does the trick, and although maybe if I choose to revisit my code twenty years from now, I will regret not having laid out my code using a proper class hierarchy, I sort of doubt it.

If the preceding paragraph somewhat describes you as well, you may enjoy this book. To me, it takes VB2008 and makes it simple and enjoyable like VB6. The author, James Foxall, doesn't try to cover everything, but he covers enough to be able to actually use VB2008 to solve real problems, and along the way he teaches the fundamentals of Visual Basic (even a blessedly short chapter on custom classes).

When done, you can use VB2008 to: develop and use forms (dialog boxes), manipulate the objects that VB and .NET provide, work with the keyboard, manipulate graphics within your own windows, manipulate files and directories, read/write text files, databases, and the registry. You can use automation to manipulate other applications, and even package your creation for distribution using Microsoft's "ClickOnce" technology.

The book is a good size, large enough to cover major areas, but not so large as to intimidate. I only wish there was more coverage of common .NET classes such as the print / print previewing classes. Overall, I would say this is a great book for all us old VB6 types wanting to "modernize."

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